SILK 191 



used to feed silkworms, and as a result of this before long there 

 will in all probability be a nourishing silk industry in the 

 Punjab, as there is already in the neighbouring state of 

 Kashmir. What is possible in the Punjab and Kashmir is 

 possible in other parts of India and Ceylon, and the Govern- 

 ment are now taking energetic measures to revive the ancient 

 silk industry of these countries. Working in conjunction with 

 the Government is the Salvation Army, from whose admirable 

 report this account is mainly derived. 



' " Grow Mulberry " is an order which should be issued in 

 capital letters which " he who runs may read " to all Govern- 

 ment Departments having anything to do with the planting 

 of trees. Morns Indica is a native of India, as its name 

 implies. It is one of the richest and most neglected gifts of 

 God to India. . . . You can cut the tree to its root every fifteen 

 years and sell its timber, and it will spring up again luxuriantly 

 without the trouble of replanting, and present its owner with 

 a second forest in another fifteen years. Scatter its seed along 

 water-courses and in forests and it will take care of itself.' l 



One ounce of eggs produces 30,000 silkworms, 2 which con- 

 sume about half a ton of mulberry leaves, so that for every 

 ounce of eggs fifteen to twenty trees are required. Kashmir, 

 with an annual output of 40,000 ounces, requires nearly 

 one million trees. 



Besides the silkworm which feeds on mulberry leaves 

 (i. e. the Bombyx mori) there are in India many kinds of so-called 

 ' wild ' silkworms which live on many other kinds of trees. 

 The two most important of these ' wild ' varieties are the 

 Tasar and Eri. 



Tasar is a Hindoo word, which the French first corrupted 

 to tussore, and since its introduction into England various 

 other incorrect spellings have from time to time been adopted. 

 The Tasar is a native of Central and South India, and is 

 found living on about twenty-five different kinds of trees. 



1 The Annual Report on the. Silk Centres of the Salvation Army in India and 

 Ceylon, 1915-16, by F. Le L. Booth-Tucker. 



2 The Salvation Army imported 350 ounces of seed in 1915, and distributed 

 it to various centres throughout India. 



